Lullaby
by angelsinstead
Summary: Professor Rick Payne and his wife Kate are struggling to have a baby. Can Melinda help make their dreams come true?
1. Chapter 1

"She doesn't want me. She just wants my sperm," Rick complained.

"What did you just say?" Melinda asked.

She was sitting at Professor Payne's desk at the university with papers strewn all around her. As usual, they were on one of their famous ghost hunts. But obviously, Rick had something else on his mind.

"Kate," he said. "She just wants a baby."

"Really?" Melinda asked, because this was the first she had heard of this. Rick didn't usually talk about his wife or their love life.

"Yeah," he said with a heavy sigh. "We can't get pregnant. That's all she thinks about day and night. Having a baby. She made an appointment at the fertility clinic. To have my sperm tested."

"How did that go?" Melinda asked, raising one eye brow.

"Do you really want to hear all the details?" he said with a chuckle. "Well, I went into this little room. I had this little cup. And then I had this not so small orgasm."

Melinda was breathless, staring into his blue eyes. "Ohhh my God," she finally said.

"Well, you did ask."

"Uhhh yeah, I did. Thanks for sharing... ummm... all the wild... and very intimate details. What I meant though was, how did the tests turn out?"

"Just fine," said Rick. "Nothing wrong with my sperm. I have excellent little swimmers."

"Ohhh... okay. So they are gonna test Kate now?"

"They already did. She isn't producing eggs. The doctor at the clinic says it's almost impossible," Rick replied. "But she still wants a baby."

"And you don't?"

Once again, Rick let out a heavy sigh. "I'm selfish," he said. "Maybe I just want my wife to myself."

"Maybe she doesn't have a lot of time. If she has viable eggs, she may have a very small window of opportunity," Melinda spoke. "Maybe you should go with it. It may be your only chance to become parents."

"Maybe," Rick said. "Can we talk about ghosts now? Something normal again?"

"You're the one who brought up your sperm," Melinda pointed out.

Rick leaned over Melinda and smirked. He didn't know what had possessed him to bring up he and Kate's fertility problems in the first place. What had compelled him?

Melinda was his best friend. He shared everything with her. Well, almost everything. There was one thing he could never say - one thing he had to keep to himself above all cost. It was the one thing that could destroy their friendship in an instant. The professor possessed feelings for Melinda he could never express, because in doing so, he could destroy everything.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

When Rick arrived at home after a long day at work and an even longer evening with Melinda, he found Kate crying in the den. "Kate, what is it?" he asked.

Kate's head was downcast as silent tears dampened her cheeks. "Rick, you forgot. You forgot again. You were with HER," she said to him accusingly.

"What? What did I forget? And what do you mean ... I was with her?"

"You were going to spend the evening with me. You promised... But instead, you were with Melinda. Who knows what you were doing."

"We were working," Rick insisted. "And I didn't know you wanted to spend the evening with me. Kate, every time we are together, all you can talk about is the baby you are hoping we have."

"But you want a baby, too. Don't you?"

"Kate, what I want most of all is you. You know how selfish I can be."

"We've been trying for a baby for months now. My heart is going to break if it doesn't happen soon. I NEED to have a baby."

Rick looked into the pain-filled eyes of his wife and he heard himself making a promise he hoped he had the power to keep. "Kate, we'll have a baby, somehow, someway... even if we have to adopt. But I think I might have a better idea. How would you feel about surrogacy? Would you object to hiring a surrogate to carry our child?"

"Our child? How would it be our child if we hired a surrogate? I'm not producing eggs!"

"It would be our child. We'd hire just the right person. She would be carrying the baby for us, nothing more. It would be our child."

"What if she changed her mind at the last minute? What if she tried to take the baby?"

"She wouldn't do that. We wouldn't be hiring just anyone..."

"You already have someone in mind, don't you?" Kate asked.

"Maybe," Rick replied.

Before Kate asked any further questions he wasn't prepared to answer, Rick quickly left the room. Kate let out a heavy sigh as she watched him go. He spent far more time at his office and with Melinda than he ever spent with her.

~*~o~*~

When Melinda arrived home, she found Jim munching from a bag of potato chips while watching television. "Where ya been, Mel?" he asked, although he already knew. His wife was always ghost-hunting with Professor Rick Payne when she wasn't working at the antique shoppe. Jim's suggestions that they settle into their lives and have a baby were always rejected. Melinda didn't think she could juggle diapers and bottles, along with all the things that went bump in the night.

"Ohhh you know me," she said as she sunk down on the couch next to her handsome husband. She kissed his cheek as she settled into his arms.

Jim kissed the top of her head as she cuddled up against his chest. "It's my night off... so I was thinking..."

She gave him a mischievous smirk. "You're feeling frisky, aren't you?"

"I hardly ever get to spend any time with my wife... and I must admit, I'm feeling lonely. It would seem that lately you give all of your attention to Professor Payne."

"He's my best friend. I need his expertise."

"Are you sure that's all it is?"

"Of course, Jim. What else could it be?"

Jim stared into her eyes, but he didn't answer. It was obvious that he was jealous of her relationship with Rick. "Jim, he has a wife!" Melinda exclaimed.

"Ohhh alright," Jim said in a grumble. "I guess I am just being paranoid. I want you all to myself."

"You have me all to yourself. Tonight," Melinda said. "Let's go upstairs."

Jim looked eager, but something made him pause. "Wait, Melinda. About what we talked about earlier... you know, having a baby..."

"Jim, I told you I am not ready yet. I'm not ready to have a baby. I'm sorry."

Disappointment shone in Jim's eyes, but as usual, he tried to brush it aside. "I hope you're ready before we are grey and old."

"It will come in time," Melinda stated. "Just don't push me. I'm not ready... and it's making me feel uneasy when you keep bringing it up time and time again."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Jim. Let's just forget it for now, please," she said as she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a tender kiss. "Let's go upstairs. I want to show you how much I've missed you..."

"How can I refuse such a tempting offer?" Jim said as he gave her a long, passionate kiss. He then carried her upstairs and made slow, seductive love to her.

When it was over and Jim fell asleep in her arms, Melinda's mind began to wander. As usual, she found herself thinking of Rick. She could hear his laughter while reminded of his smile. Jim was right. She cared for more for the professor than she would ever care to admit.


End file.
